PETRONAS and OPITO deliver on skills agenda for Malaysia

Oil and gas workers and those seeking to enter the industry in Malaysia now have access to globally recognised qualifications and training thanks to a ground-breaking agreement between OPITO and PETRONAS.

The Malaysian national oil company and the international oil and gas skills body signed a strategic skills memorandum of understanding in 2012 to help build a safe and competent, indigenous oil and gas workforce and establish INSTEP as a globally recognised centre of technical excellence. The outcomes of this agreement, announced today, have seen seven training centres in South-east Asia become accredited to deliver emergency response training to international standards and the world’s first OPITO-approved qualification centre delivering technical training to globally recognised qualifications.

At a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur today OPITO and PETRONAS will recognise the achievements of INSTEP in becoming the world’s first centre to offer globally recognised vocational qualifications in electrical and mechanical maintenance and instrumentation and controls.

Hundreds of Malaysians will now be trained to recognised industry qualifications, allowing them to work anywhere in the world. This will open-up new economic opportunities for the Malaysian people, increase the global mobility of the country’s workforce and give employers confidence in the competence of their technicians.

Chief executive officer of INSTEP, Chandramohan Saminathan, said: “We are proud of our achievements in creating a regional hub of excellence in learning and safety training. Through our work with OPITO, we are establishing Malaysia as a world class centre for the oil and gas industry where innovation and quality are at the core of everything we do.”

Earlier this month, OPITO announced the launch of a global framework for vocational qualifications. The oil and gas skills body has developed global technical standards and a qualifications framework which will meet current and future skills demands and improve competence in the operations and maintenance activities associated with the extraction of hydrocarbons.

On presenting INSTEP with its accolade, group chief executive of OPITO, David Doig, said: “Through our work with PETRONAS, INSTEP will now be the first in the world to deliver qualifications which are industry-designed and industry-recognised and underpinned by technical training standards, occupational standards, a robust assessment process and accredited certification and qualifications.

“Through the visionary leadership of PETRONAS, Malaysia has now established the finest technical training facility I have ever seen. We are proud of our relationship and association with PETRONAS and look forward to continuing to work together to develop the skills of the Malaysian people.”

PETRONAS and OPITO have also been working to ensure that every worker gains Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training before going offshore as a mandatory requirement in the same way as it is compulsory in the North Sea. Seven training providers in South-east Asia have now been accredited by OPITO to deliver this training which makes sure an individual knows how to get to work safely, carry out their work offshore safely and return home safely.

Mr Doig added: “We are immensely proud of the results achieved by this partnership between OPITO, Petronas and INSTEP together with the seven training providers. In a short space of time, we have designed appropriate, industry-specific, valued nationally and globally recognised training that will result in a safe and competent workforce.

“Being invited by PETRONAS to design a framework that ensures local workforces are suitably trained and qualified to work in the oil and gas industry is an honour and underlines the esteem in which OPITO Is held globally.”

As a not for profit organisation, owned by the industry, OPITO will reinvest the revenues generated by these accreditations and standard in the continuous development of educational products and services for the benefit of the industry.

OPITO has a proven track-record in responding to the global oil and gas industry’s training needs. Having successfully designed and monitored safety training standards in the North Sea for many years, OPITO created an international organisational structure to support the move by the industry to adopt common global standards in emergency response and hazardous activities. Over 300 000 people around the world were trained to those standards in 2014, helping prevent incidents through greater safety and competence.

Adapted from press release by Joseph Green

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/05052015/petronas-opito-agenda-malaysia-904/